HA
NOI ― A former obstetrics nurse has been sentenced to eight years in jail by a
Ha Noi court for trafficking babies.
Nguyen
Thi Kim Chi, 59, had taken babies from women with unexpected pregnancies to
sterile couples looking for children, earning up to $1,700 from each of the
four transactions she brokered between early 2009 and November 2010.
Chi,
who worked as a nurse at the National Ob-Gyn Hospital, said she understood the
demand and supply for children and just connected parties as “a mercy” for all
involved.
The
court, however, concluded that the operation was merely for profit.
In
one case, Chi gave a college student in Ha Noi $239 to take her baby and
charged the couple who received the child seven times that much.
Chi’s
husband, Dang Quang Hy, 78, was sentenced to six years for assisting his wife
in seeking the babies, while her sister-in-law, Bui Thi Le Thuan, 50, got four
years for helping Chi take care of the babies before their prospective parents
were found.
Thuan
was paid $3.50 a day for running the makeshift hospital nursery.
